Heat treating apparatus



Dec. 14, 1943. T. w MUNFORD HEAT TREATING APPARATUS Filed Jan. 6, 1945 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Cltforneg Dec. 14, 1943.

T. w. MUNFQRD HEAT TRATING APPARATUS Filed Jan. 6, 1945 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 QHOUI Patented Dec. 14, 1943 pir teur cerros HEAT TREATING APPARATUS Application January 6, 1943, Serial No. 471,515

3 Claims.

This invention'relates to apparatus for heat treating metal articles and more particularly to apparatus for suspending the articles in a furnace chamber.

The article supporting apparatus comprises an overhead support and article supporting hangers depending therefrom and it is an object of the invention to provide a hanger which shall comprise a number of readily detachable similar link bars of a form and construction well adapted to stand repeated heating and cooling or quenching. Other related objects will more fully appear from the detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein the preferred forni of the invention is shown.

ln the drawings- Fig. l is a vertical section of a furnace of the type with which the present invention has special utility, the View also showing the article supporting apparatus or fixture of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the top of the article supporting fixture and a plan view of that portion of the furnace which supports said fixture.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary detailview on line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. i is an enlarged side elevation of a portion of the apparatus of the present invention.

Fig. 5 is a section on line 5 5 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a view corresponding to Fig. 5 except that the parts are shown in different position.

Fig. 'l is a perspective View of one of the parts shown in Figs. 5 and 6.

The type of furnace with which the present invention has special utility comprises an upright open-ended shell iii inside of a furnace chamber formed by a bottom wall il, side walls I2 and a removable top i3. A ian I between the bottom wall i i and the lower end of the shell draws heating gases through the shell, the gases being heated by Contact with heating elements l5 between the shell and the side walls I2 of the furnace, it being understood that the gases are recirculated in a iiow path which includes the space between the shell and the side walls I2 and that the shell constitutes the chamber wherein the articles are placed for heating.

In accordance with the present invention, the articles (not shown) that areto be heated in the shell i@ are suspended therein by a removable fixture generally indicated at it and comprising an overhead support ll from which a plurality of articles supporting hangers depend into the shell. Loading and unloading of the fixture will, of course, be done outside of the furnace and the articles will be secured to the hangers as by hooks or the like, not shown, passed through apertures I3 in the hangers.

The overhead support I'I is of open work construction (see Fig. 2) so as not to substantially impede the ilow of gases therethrough and in its preferred form comprises a plurality of laterally spaced beams i9 maintained in spaced relation by spacers ZB through which tie rods 2i extend for holding the beams together. Each of the beams is adapted to support a row of the hangers i8, the hangers being detachably secured to a depending web of the beams by connecting pins 22.

In accordance with the present invention, each of the hangers I8 is comprised of a series of link bars 2t each having a jaw 26 at one end and a tongue 2l at its other end for insertion in the jaw of the next succeeding link bar for coupling therewith by means of a pin 28. The number of hangers used at any one time and the number of link bars in any one hanger will depend on the shape and size of the articles to be heated. Thus ir the articles to be heated are bulky, it may be that only a few hangers with only a few bars in each will be required to properly support the articles whereas if the articles are relatively small so that many articles can be accommodated in the shell lil then it may well be that all of the hangers will be employed either in full length or part length as may be required to properly support the articles.

In accordance with the present invention each pin 23 for coupling a mating jaw and tongue has a radial extension 29 midway its ends and each jaw has axially-aimed radially-elongated pin-receiving apertures 39 which will permit the pin with its extension to be passed therethrough. Also each tongue has a radially-elongated pinreceiving aperture 3i which will permit the pins with its extensions to be passed therethrough. The primary function of the extension 29 is to hold the pin in place in the jaw and tongue apertures 3E and 3| without the use of other retaining means such as Cotter pins or the like, this function being accomplished by Iirst positioning the extension in the tongue aperture to point away from the tip of the tongue as shown in Fig. 6 with the result that when the hanger is under tension (see Figs. 4 and 5) the sides of the jaw will prevent the pin from being removed. When the part-s are in the position shown in Fig. 6 the pin can, of course, be readily removed by axial displacement from either end thereof.

From the foregoing it will be readily appreciated that because the various hangers I8 are each made up of a series of loosely articulated link bars, any distortion in the link bars as a result of repeated heating and quenching has very little eiect on their usability and moreover in case any link bar should eventually fail as a result of repeated heating and quenching it is a simple matter to replace it with a new bar. As clearly shown in Fig. 4, it is preferred that the apertures i8 be of the same shape and size as the tongue aperture 3| so that in case the bar must be shortened from its tongue end (as in the case of damage), the outermost aperture I8' will constitute a ready made new tongue aperture 3|.

What I claim is:

1. A hanger for supporting articles from an overhead support, comprising, incombination, a jaw, a tongue for insertion in said jaw, said `jaw and tongue constituting the adjacent ends of similar line bars, and a pin adapted to be received in apertures in the jaw and tongue for pivotally connecting them, said pin having a radial extension intermediate its ends and said apertures being oblong to permit the pin with its extension to be passed therethrough regardless of whether the extension faces up or down, said extension when the pin is 'in rposition in said apertures for coupling the jaw and tongue being positioned in the aperture in the tongue in a direction away from the tip of the tongue whereby when. the hanger is under tension the extension will be conned in the tongue' aperture by the sides of the jaw whereby to hold the pin in place in said apertures.

2. In apparatus of the class described, the combination with an overhead support, of a plurality of article supporting hangers depending therefrom, said hangers each comprising a jaw, a tongue for insertion in said jaw, said jaw and tongue constituting the adjacent ends of similar link bars, and a pin adapted to be received in apertures in the jaw and tongue for pivotally connecting them, said pin having a radial extension intermediate its ends and said apertures being radially elongated to permit the pin with its extension to be passed therethrough regardless of whether the extension fases up or down, said extension when the pin is in position in said apertures for coupling the jaw and tongue being positioned in the aperture in the tongue in a direction away from the tip of the tongue whereby when the hanger is under tension the extension will be confined in the tongue aperture by the sidesof the jaw whereby to hold the pin in place in said apertures.

3. As an article of manufacture, a hanger link comprising a bar having at one end an oblong holevfor a coupling pin and having at its other end a jaw adapted to receive the rst mentioned end of an identical link bar and having between said jaw Aand said hole a row of oblong holes of substantially the same size as the first mentioned hole and said jaw having a pair of alined oblong h oles of substantially the same size as the first mentioned hole whereby a connecting pin that can be passed through the said alined holes can also be passed through any of the other holes in an identical bar.

THEODORE W. MUNFORD. 

